Adelaide has developed an eerie reputation for bizarre and horrific murders - even Salman Rushdie has called it a place "where things go bump in the night".

After the revelations of the so-called "bodies in the barrels" murders, in which twelve people were murdered and many of their bodies dismembered and defleshed, a British tabloid went so far as to christen Adelaide "the murder capital of the world".

Yet of all of Australia's cities, Adelaide prides itself on its civilisation and the moral foundations laid out at its creation - when it was founded as a shining model, a paradise of order and reason in the Great Southern Land. So what really is the truth behind this split society - city of light or city of murder?

Bestselling author Susan Mitchell was born and grew up in Adelaide, and in this fascinating and disturbing book she sets out to discover first-hand the truth behind the Snowtown murders and to ask how a city as cultured and civilised as Adelaide has spawned such terrible crimes. She takes us inside the worlds of its ruling class, cultured middle class and hidden underclass. Using a blend of storytelling, narrative and interviews in order to discover the truth, Mitchell has produced a gripping journey into the heart of a modern-day Utopia gone wrong.

Submitted 5 years 4 months ago by Karen.

Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 3:39pm

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